Inverted Minors

(Courtesy of Bob Crosby)

Here are a bunch of Bob's articles on Inverted Minors. Some use a jump to 2NT as a game force. Some don't. Some use a relay system while others do not. I have left them all here because they all have validity and you can choose what you like after reading all of his ideas. Enjoy!

The Minors - 3NT

September 16th 2003

3NT and the minor suits have a special relationship. Nine trick games are way preferable to an 11 trick game. From this simple fact comes a Bridge Law – “you do not pull 3NT to a minor from a position of weakness”. You opened light with your minor and eventually partner bids 3NT. You do not like 3NT and you feel your minor is safer. Do you pull? No 3NT is where you gamble it out. In fact your pull is an invitation to bigger and better things. Pulling 3NT to a major is a different story. This does not show extra as you are just groping for a better game. With a minor, 3NT is already a better game!!

The principle of fast arrival is alive and well with minors. Jumping to game in a minor is a red flag saying I am weak and distributional. Taking it slowly and bypassing 3NT has slam try written all over it. 4NT is never Blackwood with the minors. It is normally a resting spot after an aborted slam try.

Axxxx x AKJxx xx

1	Pass	2	Pass
2NT	Pass	3	Pass
3NT	Pass

Do not pull 3NT to 4 as a 9 trick game is most likely the correct spot. Pulling to 5 is unwise.

Same hand different auction.

1	Pass	2	Pass
3NT	Pass		Pass

Do not pull 3NT from a position of weakness.

With Axxxx x AKQxx Ax, you pull 3NT with this hand to convey to partner that you are slammish.

4NT is the death response by partner and any other bid is a control. In these auctions, partner has limited her hand so these bids are slam tries.

If partner has not limited her hand in any way and there is an established fit, pulling 3NT to a minor is more than a slam try it is KCB.

1	Pass	2	Pass
2	Pass	3	Pass
3NT	Pass	4

Partner's hand is unlimited and a fit established so pulling 3NT is not done from weakness. 4 is KCB.

1	Pass	3NT	Pass
4	Pass	?

What is 4? Since responder has limited her hand with the 3NT bid, 4 is a slam try with clubs.

Some partnerships feel there is an implied established fit in this auction. Therefore they play 4 as KCB in clubs and 4 KCB in diamonds. A 3NT bid denying a major must have either diamonds or clubs.

1	Pass	2	Pass
2	Pass	3	Pass
3NT	Pass	4

The 2 bidder is unlimited so pulling 3NT to 4 is KCB. If partner did not like 3NT, a pull to 5 is weak.

Pulling 3NT to a minor is KCB only if you have an established minor fit otherwise it is just a slam try.

1	Pass	2	Pass
2	Pass	3NT	Pass
4	Pass	?

4 is a slam try not KCB in diamonds as no fit established.

What Kantar calls “lone ranger” sequences where partner bids her minor multiple times right past 3NT is not KCB but it is still a slam try and if interested cue bid and if not bid 4NT.

Here is a recent hand from the Thurs night game.

A Axxx xx AQ1098x

Kxxx KJ AKxxx Jx

The auction went:

1	Pass	1	Pass
1	Pass	1	Pass
2	Pass	3NT

The fact that partner bid 1 before leaping to 3NT directly is that he has too good a hand to jump to 3NT directly. It's like a 4th suit forcing inference to distinguish between the two 3NT bids. Partner should now make a slam try of 4. At the 4 level “kickback” comes into play as 4NT is to play in this auction. After the 4 KCB, 6 is an excellent slam and makes easily.

Summary : Established minor fit and unlimited hands are the concepts for KCB otherwise pulling 3NT to a minor is just a slam try.

Inverted minors - Relays

July 31st 2005

Inverted minors apply only as non passed hands and not in competition. If we have 5 of partner's minor and a game forcing hand we suppress a 4 card major in favour of an inverted minor bid. If limit raise values, we will respond a 4 card major. Inverted minors are fit showing bids limit raise or better.

Inverted minors also include all balanced NT hands of game going strength. Rather than playing a jump to 2NT or pre-empting partner by bidding 3NT or making a shaky 2/1 in a 3 or 4 card suit, we bid an inverted minor with balanced hands. In addition, if the hand is NT suitable with queens and jacks and tenaces to protect, we will bypass a 4 card major in favour of an inverted minor bid.

How do we sort this out? A simple relay does the trick. An inverted minor becomes a relay. A 2 inverted minor becomes a relay to 2. A 2 inverted minor becomes a relay to 2. Balanced hands are shown by bidding 2NT, as the opener is forced to take the relay 99 % of the time. In order to keep the inverted minor as “limit raise or better”, we work these hands into the structure. The jump raises will remain as pre-emptive.

Besides handling the NT hands very well, this inverted minor treatment has an unexpected benefit. It allows the partnership to differentiate between an inverted minor with 4 trump as opposed to 5 or more. The relay allows some sequences to check back for majors, singletons and minimums. An excellent way to handle the minors and flat hands!!

Adding structure to inverted minors, assist minor suit auctions where IMPS can be picked up in bushels.

1	Pass	2	Pass
2*	Pass	?

* 2 is accepting the relay. Follow ups are:

• 2 - limit raise in clubs
  • 3 - ends the auction
  • 2 - forcing asking for more information
    • 2NT - minimum with bad clubs
    • 3 - minimum with good clubs
  • 2NT - invitational to 3NT
    • Pass - minimum with bad clubs
    • 3 - minimum with good clubs
• 2 - game forcing club raise with 5 or more clubs
  • 2NT - natural - 3 cards (min)
  • 3 - waiting (4 or more clubs)
  • 3 - asks for a singleton (step responses)
  • 3/3 - natural
  • 3NT - 4 clubs or more - no 4 card major - minimum
  • 4 - KCB
• 2NT - game forcing and may have a 4 card major
  • 3 - constructive
  • 3/3 - natural
  • 3 - Stayman
• 3 - game force with 4 clubs
  • 3/3/3 - natural
  • 3NT - to play
  • 4 - KCB
• 3 - clubs and diamonds 5-4 or 5-5 game force
• 3NT - 15-17 with doubleton club

1	Pass	2	Pass
2*	Pass	?

2 is accepting the relay.

• 2 - game force with 5 or more diamonds
  • 2NT - natural - 3 diamonds (min)
  • 3 - asks for a singleton (step responses)
  • 3 - waiting, 4 or more diamonds
  • 3/3 - natural
  • 3NT - 4 diamonds or more - no 4 card major, minimum
  • 4 - KCB
• 2NT - game forcing and may have 4 card major. Opener is now allowed to bid a 4 card major and major fits are found that way
  • 3 - Stayman
  • 3 - distro and minimum
  • 3/3 - natural
  • 3NT - to play
• 3 - limit raise in diamonds
  • 3 - ends the auction
  • 3/3 - asks for stopper in the bid suit
  • 3NT - to play
  • 4 - KCB
• 3 - game forcing with 4 diamonds
  • 3/3 - natural
  • 3NT - to play
  • 4 - KCB
• 3NT - 15-17 with doubleton diamond.

*Break relay with distro 6-5 etc or with 18-19 bal 5-3-3-2 , 2-3-4-4 , 3-3-3-4 - bid 3NT

** Break relay with 18-19 flat with 4 card major(s) – bid 2NT

2NT should be 18-19 with 1 opener 4423, 4324, 3424 or 1 opener 4432, 4342, 3442 hands. We need 2NT to find the 4 card major fit if possible. Over the 2NT partner should bid 3 of the minor with 6, 3NT or a 4 card major if he has 1 (or take control). Any subsequent bid to a major is a q-bid in support of the major (or the minor if 6). If partner pulls 3NT to 4 of the minor it is KCB for the minor (he will place the contract).

With this solution, this leaves the one of a minor - 3NT jump response to be a picture bid. A 15-17 HCP hand with 4-3-3-3 distribution is almost impossible to describe anyway.

June 16 2006

I think BJ Trelford had it right all along. One of a minor - 2NT should be a game force 13-15 HCP. This understanding keeps the bidding below 3NT for alternative game and slam exploration, which is the goal. This understanding allows contracts to be right sided for 3NT purposes. A jump to 3NT which pre-empts partner should be a picture bid of a flat NT opener with soft values. We hate partner forcing the auction to the 4 level (via a jump to 3NT) just to force to game. Bidding 2NT to force to game is far more civilized and fits in with slow arrival showing strength.

What should we do with the balanced invitational hands in the 10-12 HCP range? These are the hands that should be slotted into the Inverted Minor structure and identified via a relay. After partner takes the Inverted Minor relay, 2NT shows this hand type. Quite often with these kind of hands, you have a minor fit with partner anyway.

Kx QJx 1098x KQxx partner opens 1 so you bid 2 which partner must relay to 2. You follow up with 2NT and you have bid 1 - P - 2NT invitational but it just took longer.

OK, let's review our Inverted Minor structure. Inverted Minors show all minor fits limit raise or better and include invitational NT hands in the 10-12 HCP range. Inverted Minors with clubs, force a relay to 2 and Inverted Minors in diamonds force a relay to 2. The first job after the relay is to identify the invitational hands. 2NT after the relay, shows the 10-12 HCP range and a simple return to the minor suit should show the non forcing limit raise hands.

OK, let's use artificial bids after the relay to show the strong minor hands. We will distinguish between game forcing hands with 5 card support or 4 card support. Let's use the spade suit to show the 5 card raises forcing to game.

1	Pass	2	Pass
2	Pass	2

1	Pass	2	Pass
2	Pass	2

With clubs agreed we can use hearts to show the 4 card raise and the other minor (clubs) after diamonds agreed to show the 4 card raise.

1	Pass	2	Pass
2	Pass	2

1	Pass	2	Pass
2	Pass	3

The only other thing on the menu is that we break the relay with the flat hands 18-19 and bid 2NT. This understanding simplifies the Inverted Minor structure. Inverted Minors only deal with game forcing hands in partner's minor or invitational hands in NT and partner's minor.

Having 1 of a minor - P - 2NT as a game force, simplifies auctions as we know that all bids are forcing so they can be interpreted as showing distribution for alternative game contracts or as slam tries. You can find 4-4 major fits via this structure if you following the Kokish notion that only responder can try for the major fit. Bidding 2NT with soft values and a 4 card major should be allowed.

One of a Minor - 2NT Response

November 30th 2006

Our systemic 2NT response to a minor is limit raise 11+ to 15 HCP game forcing with a 4 card fit for partner's minor. However, it is more than that. The bid is made as a result of hand evaluation and may hold 5 cards in the unbid minor or a 4 card major. Partner must have some reason to bid 2NT other than she thinks she plays the NT better than partner. The best reason is hand evaluation. You have soft values in queens and jacks or tenaces that right siding the NT will protect, so bid 2NT. If you have nice controls, avoid bidding 2NT with your 13-15. Respond an inverted minor with 4 cards, bid a 3 card diamond suit or otherwise bid up the line. Bidding 2NT means you want to steer the contract to a NT game for a reason. Slams will be rare due to your lack of controls and soft values.

The responsibility of opener is to describe her hand after a 2NT response. If partner bids a 4 card major, the inference that she has a 5 card or longer minor is invaluable. You show where you live to identify weakness for a 3NT contract or get to 5 or 6 of a minor. If you opened a 6-5 (10-14 HCP) jump shift reverse hand, jump to the 4 level to describe it. Quantitative bidding is of course mandatory as you know partners HCP range. A direct 4NT bid would show the 18-19 balanced hand.

Since partner can suppress a 4 card major with her 2NT bid (rare), bidding your 4 card major might result in the final contract of 4 of a major. A jump in your minor after a 2NT response is KCB for your minor. Having 2NT forcing to game allows room to explore alternative games and slams. Partner does not pre-empt you with a silly 3NT bid just because she has game forcing values. Rebidding your minor is an escape and the 2NT bidder is allowed to pass. The 2NT bid as forcing to game is following the principle of fast arrival. With good hands you conserve bidding room by allowing room to explore. Leaping to game is a picture bid (flat strong NT) or weak in competition.

The side effect of having 2NT forcing to game is some very healthy 1NT responses to a minor. This means that passing 1NT will only be done with weak hands. You do not try to improve the partial so any bid at the two level is invitational. A reverse is a game force but a heart reverse is a relay. Again use judgment when responding 1NT as you should have soft values and wanting to right side the NT.

This 2NT treatment means that a leap to 3NT can be a picture bid. A flat hand in the strong NT range with soft values and 4-3-3-3 comes to mind. A 2NT bid in competition is also limit raise and up to 15 HCP so usually shows their suit doubly stopped. A 3NT bid in competition just means that I am bidding what I think we can make.

Inverted Minors II

March 27th 2005

The minors are a subject in Bridge often neglected by partnerships. This is a serious oversight though, as minor slams and getting to the right game 3NT vs 4 of a major is a tremendous source of IMPS. The corner stone of your minor structure should be Inverted Minors so let's start there. In order to play jump raises in the minors pre-emptive at all times, I like Inverted Minors to include the limit raises as well as the game forcing hands. Therefore you have an understanding that you can bail out at 3 of a minor to show the limit raise hands otherwise different bids result in a game force.

Some people play Inverted Minors deny a 4 card major. This is wrong, very wrong. If you want to force to game and have 5 or more of partner's suit, make an Inverted Minor rather than bid your 4 card major. No amount of arguments will ever convince me you can play catch up to describe hands like xx AKxx AKxxx xx when you respond a heart to a partner's diamond opener. You must go into contortions with 4th suit forcing and partner never gets a clear picture of your hand. Result usually is 3NT instead of +1370. In competition, cuebid the opponent's suit showing a limit raise or better rather than bid your 4 card major also. Even more difficult to describe those big fit hands in competition.

OK, if you do suppress 4 card majors with Inverted Minors, you have to have understandings made popular by Eric Kokish with his 1 - 2 understandings. With these understandings, Kokish says only one side of the table is allowed to explore for 4-4 major fits. Although not as strict, you must have similar understandings with Inverted Minors. When the Inverted Minor responder initially bids a major, it is natural and 4-4 major fits are found that way. This means that the opening minor bidder does suppress 4 card majors with balanced hand rebids and major fits are found only by the other side of the table (Kokish treatment). If the opening bidder does bid a major, he must be distributional with 5 or more in the minor or else he finds a different bid. 4-4 major fits can rarely be found this way also. NT probes are sacrificed in favor of natural major suit bidding. You can get to 4 with the above hand nicely by this simple auction.

1	Pass	2	Pass
2NT	Pass	3	Pass
4

If you have an invitational hand instead of a game force, do not suppress your 4 card major in lieu of an Inverted Minor. You have xx AKxx Kxxxx xx, so respond a heart to partner's diamond opener and jump in diamonds later to show the invitational range diamond hands. These invitational hands are shown later with toys like 2 Way NMF and Wolff relays. For example this hand is shown after a 2NT rebid by partner with this Wolff sequence.

1	Pass	1	Pass
2NT	Pass	3*	Pass
3	Pass	3NT

* By making a relay before bidding 3NT, you are making a mild slam try with partner's minor.

OK, borrowing a page from Kokish, here are some Inverted Minor understandings. All balanced opening hands are described by rebidding some number of NT after the Inverted Minor. The 15-17 range hands are out as they would have been bid by an original 1NT. The 2NT rebid after an Inverted Minor can hold up to two 4 cards majors and HCP under a 1NT opener. The major fit, if any, is found by the other side bidding their major. A 3NT rebid is 18-19 a la Kokish and you have some KCB understandings after that bid. As stated previously, the Inverted Minor can bid a natural major but only with 5 of a minor and can even pattern out later. Jumps are splinters and the other minor is natural. Jumps in the agreed suit are KCB and a simple minor raise is not forcing as partner may only have an inverted raise over there. If you have a fear of wrong siding the NT (say with this hand AJxx xx AQJx xxx), bid a non forcing 3 after an Inverted Minor rather than 2NT.

If partner returns to your agreed minor after a 2NT rebid, it is to play with an original limit raise hand. All other bids after the 2NT rebid mean the game force is in effect. Combining the limit raise hands with the Inverted Minor, in order to free the jump raises to be pre-emptive is not that big a hassle. Just having a few escape hatches work nicely.

1 Minor - 2NT

September 30th 2005

There are a wide range of balanced hands in the 10-12 HCP range that are best described by a 2NT invitational bid after partner opens a minor. Bypassing a 4 card major should be avoided with these hands but that action is still possible. If the hand lacks controls or has tenaces to protect, why bid a major when 2NT describes your distribution and HCP strength in one fell swoop.

Since game forcing balanced hands are now incorporated in our inverted minor structure, 2NT is not needed for game going hands.

Partner opens 1 and you hold Kx KJx xxx A10xxx.

You bid 2NT so what are your rebid understandings after 2NT? There are two ways to remain in a partial in these sequences. Passing 2NT works well and the club relay works well. You bid 3 and partner must relay to 3 which you pass. This makes a simple rebid of 3 directly, forcing to game. What if partner bids 3 after the relay? This is checkback Stayman with hearts or both majors and forcing to game. If the 2NT bidder had a 4 card spade suit she bids it or if 4 hearts she raises to game in hearts. If opener bids spades after a relay she is just checking back for a 4-4 spade fit. Bidding 3NT or 4 spades are responders only options.

What if the diamond opener does not relay after 2NT and just bids a major? This is a true reverse or a cue bid and a slam try. Do not forget that we play jump shift reverses with a minor opener (6-5’s). A jump to 4 is KCB for diamonds and a jump to 4 of a major is the jump shift reverse 6-5 and 10-14 HCP’s.

x AJ10xx KQJxxx x

1	Pass	2NT	Pass
4	Pass		Pass

After a 1 opener and a 2NT response, relays do not exist. 3 is not forcing but everything else is forcing.

3 is reserved for a NMF type of checkback. Partner bids a 4 card major if she has one after 3, otherwise she bids 3NT. A major bid by opener is a true reverse or a cue bid with club slam aspirations. A jump to 4 is KCB for clubs and a jump to 4 of a major is a jump shift reverse.

KQ10xx x x AQ109xx

1	Pass	2NT	Pass
4	Pass		Pass

What about a direct jump to 2NT in competition? I see no reason that the above structure should not apply. Bidding their suit is an obvious cue bid probably trying to determine the degree of duplication of value in their suit.

Inverted Minors III

June 25th 2006

In IMPS, games and slams are paramount. You devise a system to meet those objectives. Here is a hand that shows this objective well. Void KJxxx AKJ109x Kx. Partner surprises you by opening 1! I have seen matchpoint players afraid to suppress a 4 card major in lieu of an Inverted Minor but I would bypass a 5 card major and bid an Inverted Minor with this hand!

With my partners, an Inverted Minor forces a relay. They would bid 2 in this sequence but they are allowed to break the relay with exceptional hands. A flat 18-19 hand is one of these hands so partner bids 2NT. KQx AQx Qxxx AQx . Knowing that partner has 18-19 HCP my objective is to get to a grand slam if it is biddable. Looking at a big hand with a void, Exclusion Blackwood comes to mind. I bid 4 and using the 0314 method, partner bids 5 showing 2 Aces and trump queen outside the spade suit.

Now one of the advantages of modern KCB in any form is a suit asking bid. Forcing this hand to 6NT, I now bid 6 as a suit ask. The death response when partner goes beyond your 6 level contract is 6NT. Partner bids 6 saying she has the heart queen and you bid 7 and put your hand in the box before they lead. You announce to the opponents that partner has the diamond queen, the AQ of hearts and the Ace of clubs so you have 13 tricks. Do not let partner play this one!

There are many ways to respond to Exclusion Blackwood. Kantar just goes up the line but I do not like that as you have to use extra bids to find the queen. Kiz Fung has her own system that has the queen built into the responses with a maximum of two controls allowed to be shown. This is a good way in my opinion. Tom, BJ and I just flip KCB from 1430 to 0341 so we can have zero as the first step.

Minors (2NT rebid)

August 3rd 2006

As every Bridge player knows, Goren had it all wrong with his more HCP’s you have, you jump to game concept. This it totally wrong. By jumping to game, you pre-empt partner for further investigation - simple as that. The “principle of fast arrival” replaced the Goren notion by actually reversing the concept. When you jump to game (fast arrival) you are most likely weak and distributional. A jump to game in the modern era is usually a “picture bid” which has a meaning defined by the partnership.

Established partnerships have gone a step further. If you open a major and partner responds a forcing 1NT, 2NT is no longer invitational. It replaced the leap to 3NT and shows 18-19 balanced or a strong jump shift in clubs (4 cards). You can now use relays or transfers to investigate the best slam or game at the 3 level instead of the 4 level. A jump to 3NT is a distributional two suiter with clubs.

There is absolutely no reason why this same thinking should not apply to the minors. Partner opens 1 and you bid 1NT with xxx xxx 10 AQxxxx. Partner holds Kxx AKxx AKxx Jx so this is a 2NT bid showing 18-19 HCP. You do not need to bid partner's hand for her by leaping to 3NT. You can not have an invitational range hand, as you would have opened 1NT (15 –17). A 3NT bid should be a “picture” bid based on a long minor.

The advantage of this treatment is that partner's minor or the other minor is not forcing. It does not mean that this the final contract, as the 2NT bidder can evaluate her hand based on the fit. In a Spingold both tables played the above hand in 3 making where 3NT had no play. The bid hand rebid 2NT and the smaller hand bid 3 and all passed. If the big hand has a club fit, they would have bid 3NT.

Quite often a 1NT response is a tactical bid where you want to keep the majors out. Partner opens 1 and you have xxx xxx AQxx xxx so you “pre-empt” 1NT. Partner bids 2NT with her 19 HCP so you bid 3 as a suggestion to play it there. Partner has a 5 card diamond suit so she nixes your suggestion and bids 3NT. This makes because you fill her 5 card suit. If partner had a 4 or 3 card diamond suit this is where you would have played the contract for minimum damage. Bidding a 3 card major with these hand types is taking a walk on the wild side.

1 Minor - 2NT Unlimited

September 8th 2006

In the era of 4NT not being Blackwood with the minors, there is no reason to have the 2NT bid after a minor as a limited bid. 2NT after a minor should say we are forced to game with 13 HCP + and I want to right side the NT. Let's go thru some ranges to describe the HCP strength of the NT hand. The easiest hand type to describe is the 13-17 range. If partner bids 3NT you simply pass. A good 18-19 you can bid 4NT as an invite to bigger and better things. If you have 20-21 HCP you leap to 6NT and if you have even more you can bid 5NT saying bid 6NT with a minimum and 7 NT with a maximum.

Here is a hand from a Spingold where both tables bid the same 2NT bid. 1 - P - 2NT - P and the 2NT bidder held AQx A10x Kxxx AKx.

Partner bid 3NT and at one table they bid 6NT. At the other table, the 2NT bidder devalued his 4-3-3-3 to 19 HCP and only invited by bidding 4NT. With 33 HCP between the two hands there was only 11 tricks so he won 12 IMPS. Too close for my blood, as I would have just bid 6NT.

There are no good bids to describe these huge flat hands anyway. Leaping to 3NT or 4NT directly just pre-empts partner out of exploring the best game or slam contract so why not start the auction at the 2NT level? A direct leap to 3NT should show a picture bid of a 4-3-3-3 NT opener range hand. If you are playing 2NT as a game force, may as well play it as unlimited.

If you do not play 2NT unlimited, what are you going to bid with these hands? You distort your hand anyway with a convoluted 2/1 or inverted minor or a simple response at the one level. You are just stalling as you will have a problem later in the auction anyway. At least right side the NT to the huge hand at the beginning of the auction and at least proceedings have started properly.

Inverted Minor - 2NT

October 4th 2006

After an inverted minor, the first duty of the opener is to describe whether she has a weak NT bid. Bidding your distribution is the primary goal with inverted minors and your stoppers and HCP’s come later. The purpose of an inverted minor auction is to get to your 3NT contract or find flaws that make 3NT an unsuitable contract. A 2NT rebid after an inverted minor is a very common bid and may contain both 4 card majors. Do not make the mistake of bidding a major unless you have 5 or more of your minor. Describe your distribution by bidding naturally.

Inverted minors are natural sequences where you “show where you live” a.k.a notrump gropes. Here are a couple of hands from a Spingold where they bid the hands very well.

You hold AKx Kxx xx KJ109x.

Partner opened 1 so you bid 2 and she rebids 2NT so over to you. Well it looks like 3NT is a reasonable spot but you have a doubleton diamond which might prove annoying since partner opened 1. Why not show where you live along the way to 3NT? You bid 3 which means that you have shown 11 of your HCP’s already. Partner surprises you by bidding 4.

Her hand QJ10x Axxx xx AQx and you make +650 against your partner’s +100 for defeating 3NT at the other table.

Here is another hand handled well by the Spingold participants.

xx xx AKxxxxx Ax

Partner opens 1 and you bid 2 with partner rebidding 2NT. 3NT looks like the spot as you have a “flat” hand of 7-2-2-2. However why not show the club Ace along the way to 3NT? Partner has AKQx Q10 QJ10x xxx and bids 3. OOPS no heart stopper so you leap to 5. +600 again against your other partner's +100 for defeating 3NT at the other table.

A good rule for inverted minors is bid your distribution first and your stoppers later by showing where you live. Bridge becomes quite a simple game by bidding this way.

Jump Raises Minors

January 7th 2007

Most of us play inverted minors as limit raise or better. This “two in one” bid leaves the direct jump raises as pre-emptive. What do we mean by pre-emptive? It does not mean all the hand ranges below a limit raise in the minor as there is nothing pre-emptive about those hands. The healthy hands (HCP’s) are handled with a 1NT bid. Partner opens 1, you have Jxx Kxx xx KJxxx this is certainly not a pre-emptive 3 bid. Take away the king Jxx Jxx xx KJxxx so it becomes a pre-emptive 3 bid.

The purpose of the pre-emptive jump raise in the minor is two fold. You immediately describe your 5th trump and you pre-empt the opponents to the 3 level. You have diminished partner’s defensive ability by having so many trump, so let's make it difficult for the opponents. What if you have 5 or more trump and a 4 card major? In my opinion, this depends on how strong you are. If you have a decent hand under a game force, always bid your 4 card major. There are ways to show invitational hands in partner's minor later in the auction.

What about weak hands with a 4 card major and 5 or more trump? Our preference is to ignore the 4 card major and pre-empt. This bid is disgusting to match point players, but in IMPS you describe your 5 trump right away and impede the opponents. I held x AJxx xx xxxxxx, partner opened 1. Do you respond 1 or bid 3?

3 is the best tactical bid in IMPS as you up the auction right away. If you respond 1, you will never buy this hand in 2. There are opponents lurking who are short in clubs. Also partner never reads you for a 4-5 so you always seem to play in your Moysean instead of your nice minor fit. Why not just support partner right away and get your one bid over with?

You have Qxxx xx xx KJxxx, partner opens 1. You essentially have a hand that is only worth one bid and a preference. You will not buy this hand in 2 and most systems cannot even play 2. Say you respond 1, partner bids 1NT. You have two choices of passing 1NT or bidding 2NT as a relay to 3. Playing at the 2 level in clubs is impossible. Playing XYZ, you can not play a club contract at the 2 level. You may as well take a slight risk of missing your spade fit and bid 3 going in. What if partner does have a game going hand with spades? There is nothing wrong with her bidding 3 and you bidding 4. A pre-empt is just that. A hand that is weak with 5 or more trump. A 4 card major does not change the obvious.

Over a takeout double, I prefer that a jump raise shows invitational values. Right siding the 3NT is so important in these auctions as the takeout doubler is behind the opening bidder. I prefer to pre-empt by using the 2NT bid as we will never be in a 3NT contract anyway. When you have a big fit with partner's minor, remember there are opponents who want to get to their 4 of a major game.

There are fix hands with this structure. What do you bid with a 5 card minor fit with partner, HCP’s just under a limit raise and a singleton so 1NT is not an appropriate bid. Over 1 with these hands holding a 4 card major or even a 3 card diamond suit, bid that instead of a jump raise. After a 1 opener you may have to make an underbid or overbid.

With x xxx AQxxx Q10xx, I would stretch and bid 2 rather than 3. Change this hand to x xxx AQxxx Jxxx and I would make the underbid of 3. Bidding 1NT or 1 with this hand is repulsive.

Systemic (2NT after a Minor)

September 16th 2007

Defining a 2NT response to a minor opening has been debated for eons. Should we have it invitational or should we have it forcing to game? Since we play a cue bid in competition, our Jacoby 2NT, our godfather “new suit 2NT “ by responder as limit raise or better, we have decided the direct 2NT response to a minor can also convey the same message. A 2NT response to a minor is a limit raise or better up to a maximum of 15 HCP. We had a fix hand held by opener though. If we had a flat opening hand with 12-13 HCP’s, we did not have an escape from a 2NT response as it was a one round force, we had to carry on to 3NT. This involved playing the cards like Meckwell in a 23 HCP game.

Tom Gandolfo came up with a nice fix for the above dilemma. Why not play jumping to 2NT by responder as a balanced hand limit raise or better but with a minimum of 4 cards for partner’s minor? This treatment immediately takes all balanced hands out of the inverted minor structure in that HCP range. A 5-3-3-2 with 5 of opener's minor would still be a 2NT response (softer values). This understanding also allows an additional escape hatch to 3 of your minor by opener on a 4 card minor suit. Think about it! This means that after a 1 opening bid, when holding a flat hand in the limit raise + HCP range without 4 or more clubs, responder can always manufacture a 1 bid on a 3 card suit or bid a 4 card major. If you have 4 or more of partner’s clubs with a balanced 11+ to 15 HCP’s, you can now bid 2NT.

After a 1 opener there is only one fix hand type, that is very rare. If you have a balanced hand without a 4 card major, nor 4 diamonds, you must have 4 or more clubs, by the law of 13 cards. This means with a balanced 12 –15 HCP’s, you may have to bid 2 after a 1 opener rather than 2NT (no 4 card diamond fit). This 2 bid conserves bidding room, so not a huge inconvenience. The Kokish treatment of 1 - 2 kicks in, so you should have no problems. The only fix hand is specifically a 4-3-3-3 with 10-11 HCP’s and 4 clubs. This is no loss as a 1NT bid describes this very bad hand type quite nicely.

Partner will never hold a balanced hand for an inverted minor unless she is past the 15 HCP upper limit for the 2NT range or “all controls”. This information is very helpful for minor slams. Good systemic bids for getting to minor slams are gold. An inverted minor should only be chosen with a 5-3-3-2 in this variable HCP range when the nature of the HCP’s is all controls. Two different bids for the same hand pattern and HCP range but soft values vs controls. I like it!!

Sometimes with huge hands for partner’s minor, you make an inverted minor in lieu of a 4 card major. You can still find your 4-4 major suit, if slam is not in the cards. We just use the Kokish understanding that responder is responsible for finding 4-4 major suit fits. Responder's major suit bid is a natural suit after openers 2NT or 3 of the agreed minor rebid.

Inverted minors (Stoppers)

July 8th 2008

I believe very strongly in bidding hand patterns. Tell partner which hand pattern you have followed by enlightening her as to your HCP's. We feel all balanced hands should be shown by a NT bid, not too many exceptions. Showing stoppers immediately by opener contradicts this philosophy. When you open 1NT you are telling partner that you have a balanced hand pattern within a certain HCP range. You are not informing partner that you have stoppers in every suit. When you rebid 1NT you are showing a balanced hand with 12-14 HCP. You do not promise stoppers in both unbid suits, that is ludicrous. When partner makes a 2/1 or an inverted minor, you first obligation should be to show a balanced hand as opposed to a distributional one. In fact, you can bid your stoppers later in the auction as long as you are under 3NT.

1	Pass	2	Pass
2NT	Pass	3	Pass
3	Pass	5*

* Neither partner has a club stopper.

Get the NT in first to describe your balanced hand and HCP range and let’s worry about the stoppers later. If you do not bid NT, partner has the right to expect distribution with extra values in all auctions. Showing stoppers just adds ambiguity to an auction and “muddies the waters”.

A Tormentee and I had an auction tonight that emphasizes the stoppers philosophy.

Jx AKJ Q1098x Qxx

1	Pass	2	Pass
?

I advocate bidding 2NT to show a weak NT type of hand. I feel bidding stoppers first is sick bidding as it adds ambiguity as to HCP range and distribution. What if you had a good hand with diamonds and hearts, bid the same way as you would with a flat 13 HCP? We all play 5 card majors so our minors are suspect. Bidding a 2nd suit by opener gives legitimacy to our minor so should not just be a stopper bid. Do not be in such a hurry to show your stoppers. Distribution and HCP range should have priority in the correct order. The Tormentee bid her stopper so I thought she had distribution and extra HCP’s. I made a slam try and we got to the wrong game.

You open 1 on AKxx xxx KJx QJx and partner bids 2. Bidding 2 to show a “stopper” with this hand is criminal. You have a balanced NT hand so do not “legitimize” your club suit by bidding spades. You opened 1 because you play 5 card majors!! You have a balanced 4-3-3-3 NT hand.

We all play cue bids and many systemic bids as limit raise or better. Our first obligation in these hands should be the death response to prevent ambiguity.

1

1

2

The 2 bid is limit raise or better. Should opener start bidding stoppers now? This is silly as the 2 bidder can have 9 HCP or 20 HCP. Tell the cue bidder that you are minimum first with a death response and if partner makes a forcing noise, you can now bid stoppers. All in good time. Stoppers should follow the same rule for cue bids. You bid your stoppers up the line. Failure to bid a lower ranking stopper should mean you do not have one.

Mike Lawrence in his 2/1 teachings says do not bid 2NT without both unbid suits stopped after partners 2/1. He says rebid your 5 card major suit instead. Quite often in Bridge you must pick the best lie. This style is not the best lie in my opinion as showing a 6 card major is very valuable. If you have a balanced hand within a tightly defined HCP range, bid NT. We will worry about stoppers later as long as we are under 3NT. With the philosophy of game before slam, partners should assume we are bidding stoppers later in the auction and not cue bidding for slam. If we subsequently bypass 3NT, yes we were cue bidding originally for slam. Stoppers are over rated. The suit could split 4-4 and 3NT is the correct spot. They must find the lead on a "blind" auction and may not want to lead away from a vulnerable holding. Their suit might block. Also bidding stoppers allows for lead directing doubles and generally helps the opponents with their opening lead.

A natural bidding system has an advantage over artificial systems in that you are bidding your suits and distribution naturally. Bidding stoppers detracts from natural bidding. You do not have the nice inferences from patterning out.

1	Pass	2	Pass
2	Pass	2	Pass
3	Pass

Without the silly bidding stoppers mentality, opener has shown a singleton spade and a good hand with legitimate diamonds.

Responder with Axxx knows that the hand fits well and drives the auction to slam. What if opener was just bidding stoppers? She could be a 4-3-3-3 13 HCP hand. Bidding stoppers simply screws up your natural bidding. I feel bidding should be defined as showing your hand pattern and HCP's to partner. To show stoppers, you are lying about your distribution and HCP's. Let the power of the lead inhibiting NT work for you. A blind opening lead gives you 3NT more often than not, so why show your stoppers and broadcast your weakness?

Kokish and Nagy with their 1 - P - 2 structure were smart enough to not allow opener to bid stoppers. Opener must show the balanced hand with a NT bid initially. Responder can initiate the search for a major fit or stoppers. If responder feels she has a hand unsuitable for NT due to distribution or HCP’s, she will bid naturally and now you can find out if you have the stoppers to warrant a 3NT contract.

1	Pass	2	Pass
2NT	Pass	3	Pass
?

Oops we do not have a spade stopper as responder is probably 6-4 or 5-4 in those two suits . Responder, by bidding that way may be pin pointing spade shortage.

I think the Kokish philosophy should apply to all 2/1 and inverted minor bidding. Show your balanced hand first and responder will start the search for major fits and stoppers. All in good time. The concept of “ right siding” the NT should only come into play when the opponents enter the auction. In my mind, showing the flat hand is right siding the NT. There are exceptions though. Here is a well bid hand by Stan Cabay that shows the flat hand rule can be broken.

AJ9x xx A109 K109x

Stan opened 1 and Lisa bid 2 which is a game force with their methods. Stan has a balanced hand so should be bid 2NT? Other hand evaluation concepts come into play. Stan is “all controls” with a legitimate club suit. There is a danger of no heart stopper for NT so bidding 2 can not hurt. If Lisa has a club slam aspiration, they are off to a good start with Stan’s controls. Lisa now bid the 2NT so they right sided the NT as Lisa held Kx which was protected from the opening lead.